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Semi-Centennial Anniversary 



OP THE 



CONNECTION 



OF 



PROF. ISAAC W. JACKSON, LL.D. 



WITH THE 



FACULTY OF UNION COLLEGE. 



1876. 



^"fli . '-'is H 878 



ALBANY: 

J. MUNSELL, PRINTER. 

1877. 



A 






Semi-centennial Anniversary 



OF THE CONNECTION OF 



PROFESSOK ISAAC W. JACKSON, LL. D., 



WITH THE 



FACULTY OF UNION COLLEGE. 



MEETING OF THE ALUMNI. 

The invitation to the Commencement of the year 1876 
reminded the Graduates of a fact referred to more fully in 
the President's report as follows : 

" Professor Isaac W. Jackson, LL.D., attains this year, 
the semi-centennial anniversary of his connection with the 
Faculty of Union College. As student, alumnus, tutor and 
professor, his life, since his earliest manhood, has been 
identified with the welfare of the institution. ' Of his pub- 
lished works, his College Garden, his rallying of the Alumni, 
his efficient efforts by correspondence and in the class-room 
and the section, I need not remind you. His reputation is 
honorable to Alma Mater, and his name dear to thousands 
of her Alumni. It is proposed to celebrate this anniver- 
sary at the coming Commencement and in connection 
with the Alumni banquet which will be held in the Alumni 
and Memorial Hall." 

As thus proposed, a meeting of the Graduates was held 
on the day before Commencement ; the Hall having been 
opened with Chapel services on a previous occasion. 



4 

The attendance was very numerous. The flags and other 
patriotic emblems which hung around the rotunda and the 
dome commemorated at once the half-century of the 
Professor's services to the College, and the First Century 
of the Republic. 

Ex-governor Hoffman presided at the banquet with his 
usual tact. 

After the proverbial Commencement appetite had been ap- 
peased, the Governor opened, with some humorous remarks, 
the semi-centennial celebration of Dr. Jackson's connec- 
tion with the Faculty. He then called on one representative 
of each class, from that of 1826, Dr. Jackson's class, to that 
of 18V 6, for an expression of sentiment upon the pleasant 

occasion. 

Judge Win. F. Allen spoke for the class of '26. He con- 
gratulated the College that its dark days had passed and 
that a career of bright promise now opened before it. 
Alluding to " Captain Jack," he said, His works speak for 
themselves ; he has been longer in office than any of the 
Trustees ; he taught most of the Faculty ; he has labored 
for half a century, not for money, because college salaries 
are not extravagant, but to fulfil a high duty ; in every 
state, are men occupying the highest positions in life, who 
carry with them the instruction and the example given 
them by Dr. Jackson; Governor Hoffman is a specimen of 
the Governors the Doctor has made. 

Grenville A. Tremain then read the following resolu- 
tions : 

We, the Alumni of Union College, contemplate with un- 



mixed satisfaction the record made during the last half- 
century by our beloved friend and Professor, Isaac W. 
Jackson. We take great pleasure in congratulating him 
that throughout this long period of service he has retained 
the genuine love and veneration of the Alumni. We re- 
joice that this semi-centennial anniversary of his advent to 
Professorial work in connection with the College finds his 
health unimpaired, and we trust that many more years of 
usefulness and happiness await him. 

We cherish among the most precious memories of our 
College days the recollection of his warm-hearted encour- 
agement and interest in our welfare ; and it is our earnest 
hope that the closing labors of his life may be cheered by 
the consciousness that he possesses the confidence and love 
of a vast army of graduates throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. It is therefore 

Resolved, That we greet with profound pleasure this 
anniversary of Professor Jackson's official connection with 
the College ; and it is our hope and prayer that he may be 
long spared to the institution and the world, in the full 
possession of his eminent faculties of mind and his warm 
impulses of heart. 

The resolutions were adopted by acclamation. 

Dr. Jackson then arose to respond ; but whether from the 
draught through the open door or from the affecting de- 
monstrations of regard which greeted him in ringing cheers 
and cries of " Captain Jack ! " a " sudden affection of the 
throat," he declared, had seized him and " would prevent 
the delivery of the elaborate discourse which he had pre- 
pared for the occasion. Governor Hoffman," he said, 
"would speak for him." 1 



'Few men have made better speeches and more of them than the 
Captain, as the heels of fifty sets of seniors have testified; but with 
a taste and scholarship in Belles Lettres equaling his ability in Mathe- 
matics, he has always refused to make a public address — especially 
when its theme would have been himself. 



6 

The Governor alluded to the Doctor's fifty years of ser- 
vice and said that his reward was greater than any that 
money could bestow ; that men illustrious in every calling 
were bearing his example and precepts into every state ; 
that the value of his labors could not be over-estimated ; 
that years and honors had been heaped upon him, and we 
hope and pray that he may have yet many more. 

John J. Crafts of the class of '36 next spoke. 

Wm. H. King of '46 said that he came down, not to make 
a speech but "to see the boys." He said that "Captain 
Jack" was one of "the boys "when he came to college, 
and he is still as much of a boy as ever he was. Speaking 
of what Dr. Jackson had done for the " boys, " he said, 
Where would you be, Governor Hoffman, had it not been for 
Captain Jack ? But for him, you would never have been 
Governor. 

The Hon. Henry R. Pierson spoke for the class of '46, the 
Rev. Alexander B. Morey for '56 and Harvey D. Talcott 
for '66. 

To the modest Professor, thus far kept in the blaze of 
compliment, it must have been a relief when eminent asso- 
ciates of many years in teaching were joined with him in 
recognition by the assembly. 

The Rev. Dr. Rankine made some remarks complimentary 
to Professor Foster, when this gentleman w T as called out by 
Governor Hoffman and cheered by the meeting. Dr. Fos- 
ter replied as follows : 

That the Chairman should imperatively call out any 
member or any number of members of this year's decennial 



7 
classes — the sixes — is eminently proper. They are sup- 
posed to have come up so surcharged with eloquent thoughts 
and words, that repression might be dangerous to them- 
selves, if not to others. To call on them, therefore, is an 
act of clemency or mercy which might well be looked for 
from one who has so recently occupied the Executive Chair. 
It has indeed always been my impression that Governors 
and Ex-governors must be intensely wise both in thoughts 
and deeds. It was an illusion, but one just now being 
rapidly dissipated. How could the Chairman, submitting 
himself to the guidance of a last year's almanac and passing 
by some plethoric six, call upon a lean five whose eloquence 
must be supposed to have been utterly and legitimately 
exhausted a twelve-month ago ? 

Besides, while in the presence of these gentlemen, it has 
always been with me a principle and, so far as possible, a 
practice, to let them do the talking ; a principle and a prac- 
tice not to be changed at this late day. 

The allusion of Dr. Rankine to his troubles in algebra 
brings vividly to mind the time when he who is here to-day 
the centre of attraction was to me a centre of serious dis- 
turbance — when I was sent to the Captain, a few years 
since, to pass my entrance-examination in algebra. Having 
given much more of time and study to the Classics than to 
Mathematics, the candidate found himself, with several pairs 
of excited nerves, in the august presence. The questions 
proposed were more comprehensive than numerous — What 
were the rules ? and Why were they thus ? On this latter 



8 
point, the old-school author of my text-book - (Bonnycastle) 
had been grandly reticent. His reader should receive the 
rules as objects for faith, and not for vain curiosity as to the 
source whence they had been derived or the reasoning upon 
which they had been founded. 

The Captain graciously considered these facts, admitted 
the plea based upon them in bar of adverse judgment, but 
accompanied the desired certificate with a gentle intimation 
that he regarded the recipient as not well grounded ; as an 
unprincipled youth, in fact, who would do well at the 
earliest possible moment to make the acquaintance of some 
author who would condescend to give reasons for his rules. 
The remarks of Dr. Rankine may be regarded as some 
evidence that the advice was not given entirely in vain. 

Dr. Foster's humorous hits brought down frequent clap- 
pings and laughter. 

After some interesting remarks by Judge Jermain (of the 
class of 1816), the Rev. Dr. Van Santvoord (of the class of 
1811) made an address, which was listened to with the 
respectful interest due to his character and years. 

ADDRESS OF DR. VAN SANTVOORD. 

Mr. President and Fellow A lumni : 

It is with great pleasure that I find myself permitted to 
meet you here on this interesting occasion. " I have been 
young and now am old," and little more will be expected 
from one so far advanced in years, than a few unpretending 
words. 

Sixty-five years ago I left the halls of my Alma Mater 



9 
and it may not be uninteresting to some of you to hear how 
those years have been employed. For sixty-two years I 
have been honored with the name and distinguished with 
the title of an " ambassador for Christ," to use the Apostle's 
words ; " beseeching men, in Christ's stead to be reconciled 
to God." For fifty years, I have been enabled by the grace 
of God to perform the responsible duties of a pastor over 
the Lord's flock, having had abundant reason for thanks- 
giving and joy at the fruits vouchsafed to my humble min- 
istry during so protracted a period. I am at present the 
oldest minister in the Reformed church — the church of my 
fathers, in which I have ever lived and labored — the oldest 
living graduate of the Theological Seminary of New Bruns- 
wick and the oldest graduate of Union College present; 
though a few, a very few, remain alive, who graduated from 
the institution as early as 1811. 

I have felt specially desirous to be here on this day which 
celebrates the semi-centennial anniversary of Professor 
Jackson's graduation and connection with the College as 
one of its honored instructors. I have long known him 
as a friend, esteeming him as well for his sterling virtues 
as for his work's sake. He has been fitly retained, from 
the hour he graduated, in the old homestead, to enlarge, 
beautify and adorn it, standing faithfully at his post dur- 
ing all these years ; unfolding to the successive bands of 
young men who were under him year after year, the 
mysteries of mathematical science ; teaching them to scan 
and measure not only the earth but the heavens, the 
"work of God's fingers;" and preparing them, as well by 



10 

this wholesome mental discipline as by the moral influence 
of an upright life and example, for a career of usefulness 
and honor in the great world which they were entering. 
I wished to honor this old and tried friend who has done 
so much to honor the College and benefit society, to 
add my tribute of respect to that of the many friends 
around him and to cheer him with the salutation, " Well 
done, good and faithful servant" — words fitly applied now 
to services so long and useful, and which will greet him, 
we trust, in a higher sphere, when all mortal labors are done. 
I felt desirous also to celebrate the eighty -fifth birthday 
of our Alma Mater, the charter of the College having been 
given in 1795. The fathers and founders of this institution 
planted here a seminary of learning, designed to qualify 
their sons and those of coming times for higher and wider 
usefulness as educated men. I remember well where Union 
College started, in the old brick building on the corner of 
Union and Ferry streets; the lower part of which was used 
as an academy, while the first College classes occupied the 
upper part. This was Union College — or Union University, 
as it has since proved — in its first, crude days. In 1 804, the 
new College building, now the old one, was finished ; and 
Dr. ISTott was called, in that year, to preside over the des- 
tinies of the institution. Fortunate for it and for him ! 
He possessed every gift and qualification for the discharge 
of the duties of such a responsible position. He entered on 
his work, proposing to devote his best energies to it, and 
promote the glory of God by promoting the interests of a 
liberal, Christian education. For he was as good as he was 



11 

great and made Christian principle and ethics the founda- 
tion of all true education. Although departed, his memory 
remains with us all. 

I see him as he appeared more than sixty years ago, 
heading the procession on Commencement Day, with his 
flowing black robe and three-cornered hat, with a long train 
of his " sons " behind him, soon to go forth to mingle with 
and influence society. I remember with what grace and 
dignity he distributed the honors of the institution, how 
fervent were his prayers for our future welfare ; and 
the golden rule, the key to future success, repeated on every 
like occasion — " Perseverantia vincit omnia." But he was 
not permitted to see the consummation of this fine building 
where we are now assembled. It was a project dear to his 
heart, its completion hoped for and longed for, but he died 
without seeing it. I am reminded of David, who had it in 
his heart for years to build a house for God but was not per- 
mitted to see the fair temple he yearned to build stand com- 
plete before him. He did what he could. He took the 
first steps, collected costly materials, gold, silver, brass, 
precious stones, cedar from Lebanon ; and then died, leav- 
ing to his son, his successor, the carrying out of his plans 
and the finishing of the long-deferred work. So in this 
case. The father longed to see this building rise. He 
labored for years to incite the sons of the College to under- 
take the work and complete it. He had the satisfaction of 
seeing the first steps taken and the corner stone of this 
noble Hall laid ; and I well remember how happy the event 
made him and what hopeful words he spoke of the early 



12 

completion of his cherished project. But years rolled on 
and the building did not rise ; and the venerable man was 
translated to the " Temple not made with hands." The 
mantle of Elijah has fallen on Elisha. By a mysterious 
Providence, not the son exactly, but the grandson, occupies 
the chair of his venerable grandsire and is privileged to 
complete the work devised by him and to rejoice in the 
erection of this temple sacred to Science and Religion ! 
May he live as long, yea, longer than his illustrious prede- 
cessor ! May he be as useful, yea, more useful, and send 
more laborers with Christ's blessing, into the world and the 
church ! May they go forth from Old Union, carrying 
union in their hearts in all their future labors, until the 
time promised shall arrive, when all who wait and toil and 
hope shall see eye to eye and blend heart with heart in the 
interests of truth and humanity, and the shouts of victory 
be heard, " The kingdoms of this world are become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ ! " 

The Governor then proposed the health of Dr. Tayler 
Lewis, whose name was greeted with cheers. 

Dr. Murray, of '52, Centennial Commissioner from Japan 
and Superintendent of Education in the Japanese Empire, 
responded in the following remarks : 

It is worth coming from the other side of the globe to 
be present at a meeting like this. I came here at no little 
inconvenience to aid in celebrating the semi-centennial an- 
niversary of my old and valued friend, Professor Jackson. 
I hold it as one of the pieces of good fortune attending my 



13 

temporary return from Japan, that I am privileged to take 
a part in this memorable event. 

It is a memorable event that a man, a distinguished scholar, 
a noble and true gentleman should have been spared to labor 
for half a century as a Professor in this College. It renders 
the event still more memorable when we recall the fact that 
in this same College another distinguished member of the 
Faculty, Professor Foster, whose name you have already 
honored, almost approaches Dr. Jackson in the length of 
time he has served in his Professorship. 

And now I am called upon to express the sentiments of 
this body of Alumni in regard to a third Professor, not less 
distinguished or held in less reverence and honor than either 
of his colleagues. He too has long and faithfully filled the 
position of Professor. For more than a quarter of a century 
he has added lustre to this institution by his learning, his 
literary ability and his valuable instructions. 

None who sat under these instructions will ever forget, 
or undervalue, the privilege which we thus enjoyed. Dr. 
Tayler Lewis was not merely a profound Greek scholar, he 
was not merely a careful and discriminating instructor ; he 
was what a professor ought always to be, a philosopher who 
had gathered from his studies of ancient literature the 
wisdom with which he was able to illumine the events of the 
present. Interested as he always was in the current events 
of the day, ready as he was to take a tilt with any adver- 
sary on the living questions which agitated the public mind, 
he brought into his class-room the enthusiastic interest 
which he himself felt in the great political questions of our 



14 

country. And it was, indeed, a privilege to hear him inter- 
pret the philosophy of Plato or the poetry of Homer by the 
aid of the current history of Europe and America, and in 
turn make the sentiments of his Greek favorites throw light 
upon the political and philosophical questions which puzzled 
and perplexed the successive generations of his youthful 
disciples. 

Sir, it is not only a pleasing but a most appropriate duty, 
which we owe to these men and to this institution, to cele- 
brate the noble work they have done for us and for it. It 
is a personal obligation which we are proud and glad to 
acknowledge as binding upon each one of us, to express 
our gratitude for the benefits we have received from them. 
It is a duty which we owe to this College, to recognize in 
appropriate ways the distinguished services which its Faculty 
have rendered to the cause of learning and human progress. 
The laborious life of a College Professor has few of those 
compensations which make toil a pleasure. He cannot 
hope to win public applause and receive the awards which 
await the successful members of other professions. He 
has no opportunities to gain for himself wealth and the 
comforts and enjoyments which wealth is able to purchase. 
By the very force of circumstances he is compelled to lead 
a quiet, secluded and inconspicuous life. He must devote 
himself to the instruction and guidance of youth in their 
years of thoughtlessness and folly, who often are uncon- 
scious or unmindful of the sacrifices he makes for them or 
the treasures of learning which he gathers for their benefit. 



15 

If, then, in after years we can return to our ancient haunts 
and seek out the men who lavished their labors upon us, 
and pour out before them some of that gratitude with 
which our hearts have year by year been filling up, wc are 
doing what may, perhaps, in the absence of other rewards, 
prove some compensation for their labors in our behalf. 
It is a small thing for us to come here to this beautiful 
seat of learning, wander again over the scenes of our youth- 
ful days, meet again old friends and companions and show 
by our words and interest the gratitude we feel for these 
noble Professors; but I tell you that this homage which 
we thereby pay to learning and to faithful instruction is to 
these men a higher reward than if we could pour out gold 
at their feet. 

It is not, therefore, an empty or a useless ceremony in 
which we are to-day engaged. If we desire to benefit our 
Alma Mater and encourage the new generations of Profes- 
sors who have come or may yet come to this institution, 
we cannot do better than show that we honor and appre- 
ciate the venerable men who have spent here their lives and 
the strength of their manhood. To me it is a matter of the 
deepest satisfaction, to see, as I have had recently the op- 
portunity of seeing, that the old traditions of scholarship 
which were formed under such princes of learning as Nott 
and Potter, Jackson and Lewis, Gillespie and Foster, are 
not forgotten, and that under the present administration, 
thorough instruction, enlarged facilities, manly and inde- 
pendent culture compose the platform of principles for the 



16 

conduct of the affairs of Union College with all its extend- 
ing connections within the sphere of Union University. 

The memory of President Eliphalet Nott and Vice- 
president Alonzo Potter, united in life by their labors 
for Union College and in its history by the erection of this 
Memorial Hall, was duly honored by the assembly rising 
and standing for a moment in silence. 

The meeting then closed with three cheers for Old Union 
and three for her President ; who responded with an appeal 
to the Alumni and others for additional gifts and bequests 
in behalf of the Library and its proper accommodation in 
the Alumni and Memorial Hall. 



17 



MEETING ON COMMENCEMENT DAY. 

After the music which followed the last speech from the 
graduating class, a letter from Governor Tilden, whose pre- 
sence was prevented by official duties, was read by the Rev. 
Dr. Henry C. Potter, of Grace church, New York. 

State of New York, Executive Chamber, 

Albany, June 26th, 1876. 

My Dear Sir: — I regret that my official and personal engage" 
ments are so pressing that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for 
me to be present at the Commencement at Schenectady on Wednes- 
day next . 

When I had the pleasure of seeing you, some time since, I ex- 
plained to you that I could scarcely expect to find time to prepare an 
oration or formal address, but might take as a theme of extempora- 
neous remarks an idea which I expressed to you. I venture to re- 
peat it. 

It is, to inculcate in these young men the benefits as well as the 
duty of adhering firmly to a high ideal of conduct in the careers on 
which they are about to enter, and to assure them that with ability, 
energy and patience they can achieve all the objects of an honorable 
ambition, if not exactly on their own terms, certainly without abas- 
ing that lofty standard which in the retrospect they will wish to 
have observed ; while, if, for an earlier success they compromise 
their ideals, the moral injury to themselves and the loss of just pub- 
lic or social esteem can never be repaired. Character and reputation 
are of slow accretion and can not be suddenly acquired. 

The fitness of her graduates for the practical work of life has been 
a special aim of Union College. I am glad that, under your guidance, 
are being added a thorough and precise instruction and training. 

I congratulate you and the College on the increasing success which 
year by year is attending it, and heartily wish for this honored insti- 
tution, for you and the young gentlemen I would have been glad to 
meet, every prosperity in all the future. 

I am, my dear sir, 

Very truly yours, 

Samuel J. Tilden. 
To President Potter, Union College. 



18 

Professor Jackson and Professor Tayler Lewis then en- 
tered the church together and took their seats beside the 
President's chair. Their appearance was welcomed by the 
large assemblage with hearty applause. 

President Potter then announced that the audience would 
have the pleasure of listening to an address from Professor 
Lewis. 

The reading of the address, it is quite needless to say, 
commanded the profoundest attention. The Doctor said : 

The state of my health makes me fear the fatigue and 
excitement of a public meeting ; but I cannot let the 
occasion pass without expressing the warm interest I feel in 
this semi-centennial celebration of Dr. Jackson's long con- 
nection with Union College. It carries me back to juvenile 
reminiscences. The first knowledge I had of my old friend — 
I may call him so, though a number of years my junior — 
was in the city of Albany in 1823. I was then a law-student, 
he a boy in the Albany Academy. Two things drew to 
him more than the usual notice. One was his youthful 
Quaker coat and the other the distinction of being even at 
that time a most superior mathematician. I must not omit 
a third fact that brought him — boy as he was — before 
the public eye. At that remote period when Albany was 
an intensely Federal city, there predominated in the Legis- 
lature a peculiar species of Democrats called Bucktails. 
The name is to be found in ancient newspaper files, though 
the variety itself has long since been extinct and fossilized. 
These Bucktail Democrats had ventured upon the hazard- 



19 

ous political stratagem of ejecting DeWitt Clinton from the 
office of Canal Commissioner, although the very creator of 
the Canal policy. It was too much for our youthful mathe- 
matician, absorbed as he was in geometry and logarithms. 
He made the outrage the theme of his public academic 
exercise and exposed the atrocious meanness of the trans- 
action in a most " scathing Philippic," as our sensational 
reporters say. The public prints took special notice of it. 
It became an exciting subject of conversation throughout 
the city ; and its stripling of an author, if I am not mistak- 
en, was in some peril of being brought before the senate 
on a " question of privilege." I mention the incident as 
showing what the indignant orator might have become had 
he devoted himself to politics instead of the higher pursuits 
with which his intellectual life has been occupied. 

My next knowledge of him belongs to his career as 
leading his class in Union College; then as tutor; and very 
soon as a Professor, whose solid worth is best shown by the 
present fact of which you all are witnesses. Next to that 
of Dr. Nott, his name stands among the permanencies of 
Union College. It is no small proof of merit, his position 
before you this day — the same man worthily and success- 
fully occupying the same chair, after fifty classes have passed 
through his hands, or not less than 3,000 students, every 
one of whom has held, and holds, him in highest esteem, as 
a gentleman, a teacher, and a man of science. 

Although the older graduate, my present connection with 
the College did not take place till the year 1849. It had 
been my custom, however, ever since graduating in 1820, to 



20 

make an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of my Alma Mater. 
It is a practice I would recommend to all who would keep 
alive the young college feeling and maintain, in all its 
freshness, that love of literature for its own pure sake which 
is ever in danger of being killed by the spirit of the world 
or smothered in the stifling atmosphere of an exclusively 
commercial or political life. And let me say here what a 
joy it is to And that practice becoming every year more 
constant with all, the earlier surviving graduates as well as 
the later members of the institution. It is a precious thing, 
this young college feeling annually revived, this breathing 
of the pure scholastic air as an occasional clarifier of the 
moral and political malaria by which we are surrounded. 
It is not time lost. We go hence, or we ought to go, stronger 
and better men. 

Let it not be regarded as egotistic or self-commending in 
me, to say that such was my constant custom for many 
years before coming here as a Professor. Some of the 
most delightful reminiscences of my life are connected with 
such visits. Those clear Commencement mornings ! for 
they were always clear. During the sixty years since my 
first Freshman entrance, I can recall but one rainy day in 
the whole series. Those clear Commencement mornings ! 
How they rise before me ! The gathering of the tribes, 
the *. B. K. meeting in the old chapel, the mutual saluta- 
tions, the visits to the Society halls and libraries, the short 
walks in the old ravine to see what geological changes had 
taken place since the eocene days, the assembling of the 



21 

trustees, Dr. Nott with his Roman gown and Roman figure — 
Dr. Jackson, too, marshalling the classes for that well-ordered 
procession in which I was so proud to walk ! What a figure 
he used to make in chose days ! Some remains of the Quaker 
style of dress still accompanying the military show, and the 
flourishing of the Grand Marshal's baton, gave it an ap- 
pearance as picturesque as it was original. The words, " Fall 
in, gentlemen, fall in!" may still, perhaps, be heard by those 
who are able to hear, but they are from another voice; and 
as an old man I may be pardoned for thinking that the old 
way was the better one. It was from this, I think, came 
that well-known and far-known name of "Captain Jack." 1 
But I am wandering like a garrulous old man, 

laudator temporis acti. 
It is sufficient to mention, as among the most cherished 
recollections of those days, the meeting with old friends, 
such as Potter, Yates, Joslin, Proudfit, Averill, Savage, 



1 The veracity, as well as the gravity, of history compels a correc- 
tion of the twofold error into which the learned Doctor seems 
here to have fallen. 

In the first place, the Captain received a regular commission as 
such, from the hand of President Nott, in the summer of 1825, after 
unanimous election to the post by Company A of the Union Col- 
lege Cadets. Contemporary evidence of the truth of this statement 
happily survives in the testimony of Orlando Meads, LL.D., of 
Albany, N. Y., corroborated by that of Thomas Hun, M.D., LL.D., 
of the same city. 

In the second place, the Captain is a Major; promoted for service 
in the field; but as no later title nor achievement of the First 
Napoleon could displace in the hearts of his soldiers that of " The 
Little Corporal," so, not that brilliant manoeuvre which scaled the 
heights of Catskill under the fire of a July sun, nor the triumphant 
march upon Fort William Henry, and ultimately to the gates of the 
Capitol, could give our Major auy prouder and dearer title with his 
" boys," than that of " Captain Jack." 



22 
Gillespie, now in their graves ; Reed, Foster, Pearson, still 
surviving ; and not least among them, the one whose semi- 
centennial we are uow celebratiug. On the occasions re- 
ferred to, I generally shared Dr. Jackson's hospitality. In 
those yearly-recurring visits, the love of the old College, 
and my own culture, or, as Matthew Arnold would say, 
the " sweetness and light" I might derive from the home 
of the " Dear Mother," were certainly the predominant 
motives ; but next to them stand the good dinner at Dr. 
Jackson's, the fragrant cigar in his study, and the annual 
walk through his beautiful garden. 

Since my more immediate connection with the College 
for twenty-seven years, there has existed between us the 
firmest friendship. Of this I need but briefly mention two 
proofs. It has survived the strain of sharp differences which 
at one time arose from outside questions connected with the 
executive history of the College. That not a fibre was sun- 
dered by such events is a good test of its dynamical strength 
and of the depth of mutual esteem on which it was founded. 
There is another proof which I should be ungrateful not to 
mention on such an occasion as this. It is his unintermitted, 
or let me say, his increased personal attention, when a pecu- 
liar infirmity, on my part, had made colloquial intercourse 
an onerous work, requiring a patience which true friendship 
alone could perform. 

It is a great pleasure to me, even in this poor way, to 
congratulate my old friend. He has lived a most useful and 
honorable life. It must have been a happy one. To say 
nothing here of that all-transcending element of the Divine 



23 
grace, in which I trust he has been a sharer, there are two 
things favorable to a serene existence, that he has enjoyed 
to the full. He has, for fifty years, been a student and an 
author as well as a teacher, in the department of the " Pure 
Mathematics" — so called from their crystal claritude, as 
compared with the Mixed and Physical branches. He has 
had a clear mind constantly gazing upon the science of cer- 
tainty j a still higher title by which it may be called, in 
contrast with the dimness and doubt and shadow that rest 
upon almost all the provinces of human thought. Nor is it 
of less worth in respect to the dignity and elevation of its 
truth. Well does Plato call it the sacred science, ®sia tfo<pia, 
almost holy, as it were, from its transparent purity ; or, " the 
knowledge of ever-being ; " commending it for a prime 
department of education, as waking up the young soul to 
the contemplation of the eternal, the necessary, the immu- 
table. It is the science of the uncreated ideas and un- 
created facts of number, figure, relation, in which nature 
mirrors herself, or to which all laws and facts in physics 
make their approach, in proportion as they take forms of 
ultimate knowledge. Natural philosophy in its perfect 
unveiling, chemistry when explored in its deep interior, all 
inward law and motion as the grounds of all outward 
morphology, must ultimately find the diagrams and equa- 
tions of their expression in the Pure Mathematics, this pure 
science of claritude, of certainty, and of " ever-being." Until 
they reach this, they are imperfectly known; and, in pro- 
portion as they fall short of such a manifestation, do matter 



24 
and force, when regarded as the only things in the universe, 
present a chaos formless and void. The pure geometry, as 
Plato would tell us, is inherent in the Divine Mind, not made 
by God, as nature, but a part of His very being. It came 
forth at the command, " Let there be light ! " and stamped 
the dark outward world with its inward forms, And now, 
as the ways of nature open before our scientific vision, 
everything shows us tending to a region, if we ever reach it, 
where there remain for the intellect the pure mathematical 
ideas of order, ratio, harmonious arrangement, " definite 
proportions, 1 ' arithmetical powers, and geometrical re- 
lations; in a word, members, or the things with which 
nature began, according to the ancient dream of Pythagoras, 
and in which it ends, its apx a ' and its <rgXeu«ra», its very 
essence or most interior being. 

It is to such a science of certainty that our friend has de- 
voted his intellectual life. To this, has been added the most 
charming of outward pursuits. I refer to his cultivation, 
for so many years, of that beautiful garden we are all so 
fond of visiting ' . It must have been a happy life. Surely 



1 The many persons who may recall the pleasure alluded to by Dr. 
Lewis will enjoy the description presented below — no truer as a 
picture of the charming spot than as a tribute to Professor Jackson's 
judgment and taste. 

" We may at least speak of one department in which the rare taste 
and skill of the now venerable Professor have had their weight, we 
may hope, for the many successive classes to whom he has been 
both a friend and instructor. 

"The garden adjoining the Professor's residence on the College 
grounds, has been widely known and admired. There are few cases 
within our knowledge in which better use has been made of natural 
facilities, or greater aptitude shown in converting a limited area into 



25 

may we congratulate him on having possessed two such 
elements of physical and intellectual serenity. It must be 
a farther gratification to him, as to all of us, to witness the 
revival in the prosperity of the College. 

As is the case with others in this assembly of Union 
Graduates, his days are falling — gently falling, we trust — 
" into the sere and yellow leaf," but their value is only en- 
hanced by such a consideration. I would not say to him, 
" Serus in caelum redeas! " for that would be heathenish 
and profane ; but may he yet continue, for many years, 
hale and hearty, a worker in his garden and in his study, an 
honored teacher in his class-room ! But that will be as God 
wills it. We can only utter the hope. One thing, however, 
his life has settled. It belongs to the past and has nothing 



a series of charming walks and openings apparently quite discon- 
nected with anything of the outer world. The pathway winding be- 
tween old trees or vigorous shrubbery, carries one from the broad 
slope of the College Campus directly into what nearly resembles a 
nook borrowed from the forest. Like the central pillar in some 
cathedral chapter-house, the spreading branches of an elm standing 
by itself in the middle of an irregular circle of lawn almost connects 
in varying arches with the foliage that forms its circumference ; you 
pass from this into more closely shaded paths, crossing and recross- 
ing the winding bed of a rocky stream, now with the sunlight full on 
the grass and now in the thick shade of pine and hemlock — when 
the same scene is presented from a new point of view, so that it no 
longer seems the same. The art of the designer is nowhere obtru- 
sive, but the position of the trees and the character of the surface 
seems to have directed the course of the walks, each with few excep- 
tions being wholly concealed from the others, and the course of each 
visible but for a short distance before or behind the visitor. 

" Whatever of care and money its creation has involved, has every- 
where been expended to the best possible advantage ; and the area 
occupied, only about ten acres in all, is so arranged as to give greater 
effect and pleasure to the lover of nature than could be derived from 
a very much larger surface in less skillful hands." 



26 
to apprehend from any contingencies of the future. Of the 
love of his classes, he is sure. The warm esteem of every 
one who has ever sat under his teaching, the unfeigned 
respect of all who have ever been his colleagues, this is his 
literary inheritance as long as Union College holds a place 
among the institutions of our land ; and may that be as long 
as our land, now entering upon its second century, holds its 
place among the nations of the earth ! 

We have been talking of old men and old times ; but 
they are not separated from us ; they still belong to the 
present and the future of the College. The spiritual presence 
of other days is still here, bearing witness to its strong 
unity of organization. 

New blood has indeed been infused into its veins, but it 
flows in healthy unison with the old currents and it is there- 
fore with rightly cherished confidence that I express the 
hope just uttered. 

Four things furnish the grounds of encouragement and 
security. There is a young and vigorous faculty most 
worthily coming into the places of elders wearied and worn 
but not superseded. There is a young and vigorous Presi- 
dent at their head. There is the support of the numerous 
Alumni, whose growing strength is attested by the large 
gathering of the present occasion. And last, but not least, 
there is the warmly cherished memory of the majestic man, 
the first of College Presidents, the founder and, we may say 
without extravagance or irreverence, the guardian genius 
of this institution. 

The time, the occasion and all the circumstances call 



27 
strongly to mind the Talmudic verse, in its Latin version, 

as worked into the dome of our Memorial Hall : 

Dies brevis, 
Opus niultum, 
Merces magna, 
Magister domus urget. 

The day is brief, 
The work is vast. 
The reward is great, 
The master of the house is urgent. 

At the close of the address, Professor Jackson walked 
across the stage and shook the hand of Professor Lewis, 
amid a storm of applause. 

The resolutions adopted by the Graduates at their meet- 
ing of the previous day were again read. 

The Rev. George Alexander then spoke as follows, for the 
class of 1866 : 

I am glad, Mr. President, that I have the opportunity of 
adding to these resolutions a few words on behalf of the 
class which yesterday celebrated its decennial anniversary. 

Personal affection, which has been growing stronger with 
these passing years, might lead me to indulge in eulogy, 
but that affection is, I trust, too deep and genuine to per- 
mit me to utter what could only bring pain to him whom 
we to-day delight to honor. I will not therefore speak of 
his abilities as author or instructor. However great they 
may be, they do not explain or inspire this scene. 

We bring our homage this morning not to the scholar 
whose name is so widely known, not to the teacher who has 
filled a half -century so full of patient labor ; but rather to 
the man who, in his relations to us and to our College, has 



28 
fashioned his life in accordance with that highest rule of 
living, the law of self-sacrifice. 

He is called a great man who by the power of his genius 
lifts himself above his fellows and secures the world's 
attention and admiration; but we to-day unite in declar- 
ing him to be a greater man who bows his shoulders and 
permits men of lower stature to climb over him to positions 
of honor and trust and usefulness. 

It has been asked why the name of Professor Jackson 
excites such enthusiasm among the gathered Alumni of 
Union College. Here, if I mistake not, is the secret. 
Many of us have found the principles of Optics and Mathe- 
matical Astronomy gradually fading from our minds, 
many of us vexed his righteous soul from day to day by 
demonstrating our utter inability ever to grasp them, but 
no student has gone out from the College walls during the 
past fifty years, without knowing that he could rely on Dr. 
Jackson's kind heart to plead for him in the hour of need. 

This fact has invested with a peculiar charm every- 
thing which in our memory stands associated with him. 
Was there ever a horse like " Cosine " ? Peace to his 
ashes ! Was there ever a dog like Beauty, at whose death- 
bed we watched? Were there ever carriages like those 
which followed Cosine in his perambulations ? And some- 
how it seemed as though we all claimed proprietorship in 
them ; for did they not belong to Professor Jackson and 
did not Professor Jackson belong to us ? 

Still more emphatically may it be said that self-abnega- 
tion has marked the history of his relations with the insti- 



29 
tution which, fifty years ago, graduated him from her halls 
only to claim him at once and make him forever her own. 

Union College may possibly haA^e sent out graduates more 
illustrious, but among all her sons, she has never had one 
who has given his Alma Mater a more undivided, persist- 
ent and self -forgetful devotion. In these days when ma- 
terial good is so constant a stimulus to selfish grasping, 
we honor ourselves in striving to do honor to one who has 
allowed fame and fortune to drift by him while consenting 
to live only in the life of the institution with which his 
name is inseparably linked. I am sure that I speak nothing 
but what his own heart confirms, when I say that there has 
never been an hour in the long history of his connection 
with this College when he has not been willing, as he is 
willing to-day, to lie down and let the wheels of her onward 
progress roll over him. He has regarded her welfare above 
his chief joy, and the man who lifts a finger to do her injury 
aims a blow at his heart. 

Dr. Jackson, we desire amid the festivities of this day to 
clasp your hand and congratulate you. We wish to tell 
you that for us your life has not been without avail. Not 
because of your mathematical genius or your military re- 
nown, but because you have loved us and loved the College 
which we love, we bring the tribute of our hearts and lay 
it at your feet. 

The Rev. A. B. Morey then spoke for the class of 1856 
and the Rev. Dr. James Rankine for that of 1846. 

The Hon. Wm. F. Allen, LL.D., a class-mate of Dr. 
Jackson and now Judge of the Court of Appeals, who had 



30 
presided during the proceedings, informed the audience that 
the resolutions passed by the Alumni on the preceding day- 
regarding the long and faithful services of Professor Jack- 
son, had been cordially adopted by the Trustees. 

The proceedings were delightfully concluded by the pre- 
sentation to Professor Jackson of a massive silver bowl, 
having on one side the inscription, 

"Captain Jack." 
From some of his old pupils ; 

and on the reverse, 

1826-1876. 

The presentation was made by Douglas Campbell, who 
said : 

Pbofessoe Jackson, 

I have been requested, in the name of these old pupils, to 
present to you this little token of their remembrance. In 
doing so, I will make a brief explanation. 

A short time ago a few lawyers in New York, old grad- 
uates of Union 3 met at a Reference. At its conclusion, the 
conversation turned upon the approaching Commencement 
and most of them regretted their inability to attend its ex- 
ercises. Then one remarked that this was the semi-centen- 
nial anniversary of " Captain Jackson," and almost as with 
one accord they said, " We ought to send him up some little 
memento." In three or four hours, the arrangements were 
completed; and only after the order had been given, did it 
occur to them that there was a little grain of selfishness in 



31 

debarring others from a participation in the pleasure. Had 
the project been known, the signatures to this letter would 
have been a thousand instead of half a score. 

But after all, this is only a token, and all join in its sym- 
bolism. Wherever, through this beloved continent, there 
is a graduate of Union (and where is there not ?), a prayer 
goes up to-day for long life and prosperity to " Captain 
Jack." Fifty years of the highest intellectual labor, fifty 
years of instruction of youth, half a century of unvarying, 
patient, conscientious kindness have borne their fruits ; and 

" — that which should accompany old age, 
As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends," 

to-day he has them all, filled up and running over. 

A few of these friends now beg your acceptance of this 
little gift. In future days it may hold some exquisite flowers 
which grow as they used to do, in " Captain Jackson's" 
garden ; but whatever it may hold in the future, we give 
it to you to-day, filled to overflowing with our love. 

The following letter accompanied the bowl : 

New York, June 26 th, 1876. 
Professor Isaac W. Jackson., 

Dear Sir : A few of your old pupils, unable to attend 
your semi-centennial anniversary, send you their greeting. 

They cannot express their high appreciation of the great- 
hearted man whose long life of usefulness has been so filled 
with beauty and whose unwavering kindness contributed 
so much to make their College days a joyful recollectio'n. 



32 

It cannot be engraved on silver, but it is written on the 
hearts of more than two generations of students who have 
sat under your instruction. 

We beg your acceptance of this little gift as a slight 
token of our remembrance of this gladsome anniversary. 

Believe us, yours most affectionately, 



John K. Porter, 
Clifford A. Hand, 
John L. Sutherland, 
Douglas Campbell, 
S. B. Brownell, 
W. H. H. Moore, 
Wilson M. Powell, 



Miles H. Beach, 
John H. Platt, 
Edwin Einstein, 
Frank Loomis, 
John M. Scribner, 
A. W. Nicoll, 
John L. Hill. 



The Hon. Gilbert M. Speir, LL.D., of the class of 1832, 
responded with deep emotion, on behalf of Dr. Jackson. 

The customary distribution of prizes then took place and 
the proceedings closed with the Benediction. 



972? 



Semi-Centennial Anniversary 



CONNECTION 



PROF. ISAAC W. JACKSON, LL.D. 



WITH THE 



FACULTY OF UNION COLLEGE. 



1876. 



ALBANY : 
J. MUNSELL, PRINTER. 

1877. 









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